Week 1 - Day 3
THE STORY
Stories
YOUR STORY (Spiritual Beliefs)
Michael Horton insightfully writes in Core Christianity: Finding Yourself in God’s Story:
You brought your three-year-old into the emergency room for what you thought was a common cold. Within an hour you learn that it’s a fatal disease. Your first thought is to pray. Why? Because you believe in a God who intervenes in this world. Your act of prayer assumes you believe that the world—including you and your daughter—wasn’t self-created and that it isn’t self-sustaining. There is a God who transcends the world but also created it. He is good and all-powerful.
But you have a neighbor who had a similar experience. He doesn’t pray because he doesn’t believe in God. Nature plus chance—for him, that’s all there is. In his mind there is no author of the story. Or, in the absence of God, he is writing his own story with himself as the lead character.
The story we believe determines which of these approaches to life we will take. It is not just a belief here or there as if we could just lift lines at random from the narrative. Rather, it is the story as a whole, from the opening scene until the last page. We experience and live out roles that fit in the broader narrative.
For the most part we take the story we’re living in for granted. Both believers and unbelievers don’t always know why they think, feel, and live the way they do. It’s just assumed (pp. 13-14).
Let’s not assume. Instead, let’s think through the big story we believe in and base our lives on. So what’s your big story?
The following exercise will help you identify that story by answering the following big questions. Don’t forget to record your answers so you can share them at this week’s Huddle. This will be a great exercise to help you get to know yourself and each other.
Where did we come from?
Where are we headed?
Who are we?
What’s wrong with the world and me?
Is there a solution?
What’s the meaning and purpose of life?
Rules of Engagement
When you get in your Weekly Huddle, more than likely you’ll have different answers to these questions. Please treat each other with respect. Throughout your journey together, let the following Bible passages set the rules for your engagement:
James 1:19-20 (NIV)
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)
In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
How do you feel about sharing your personal spiritual journey and heartfelt core beliefs with others in your group?
How can the above passages help navigate your journey together?